According to sources privy to the development, the Nigerian Navy had raided the Badagry area to arrest rice smugglers.
An officer of the Nigerian Navy, simply identified as OS Nuhu, has lost his life after a boat carrying contraband rice capsised in the Badagry area of Lagos State, SaharaReporters can report.
According to sources privy to the development, the Nigerian Navy had raided the Badagry area to arrest rice smugglers.
This move followed SaharaReporters’ stories which detailed and exposed the smugglers activities in the area
Sources told SaharaReporters that Nigerian Navy personnel carried out the operation on Saturday, leading to the arrest of twenty boats.
One of the boats, however, capsized, leading to the instant death of OS Nuhu, while another officer sustained fatal injuries.
The injured officer was rushed to an undisclosed location.
“On Saturday, men of the Nigerian Navy came to the area to flush out and arrest the smugglers. When they came, they arrested seven boats but one of the boats drowned. Immediately, OS Nuhu died while the other officer was rushed to hospital, it is unsure what his condition is currently,” sources told SaharaReporters.
The operation to crackdown on the rice smugglers, SaharaReporters learnt, was led by Captain Oyeleye Omotayo.
In a similar report, the News Agency of Nigeria also confirmed the raid of the Badagry Port-Novo creek with many boats arrested.
The Nigerian Navy has yet to issue an official reaction to the development.
Previously, SaharaReporters reported that personnel of the Nigerian Customs Service were accused of aiding and abetting the smuggling of rice into Lagos State.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the contraband rice is being brought from Benin Republic and smuggled into Badagry Waterside, with areas like the Marina Customs base in Badagry, Iya Afin, and Erekiti being the first ports of call for the goods.
These allegations were made by different rice dealers who spoke to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity.
“There is lots of rice smuggling going on from Cotonou into Nigeria and the Customs is aware yet they are doing nothing about it,” a source who preferred anonymity because of the sensitivity of the development told SaharaReporters.
Another source stated that smugglers pay as much as N250,000 per boat to corrupt officials of the Nigerian Customs to allow the illegal activity to continue.
“Each boat contains between 120–150 bags of rice and each boat is taxed at N250,000 by the corrupt Customs officials, making it possible for the contraband rice to fill the Nigerian market.”
Videos and pictures obtained exclusively by SaharaReporters show smugglers on boats bringing rice into the country.
A respondent who spoke on the development lamented the impact of such smuggling on those doing legitimate business.
The media contacted the Nigerian Customs Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, seeking comments on the development.
However, he did not answer his calls and had yet to respond to text messages sent to him.
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